Slideshow: Fastest-growing U.S. metros

The Raleigh-Cary metropolitan area added 71 people every day between July 2010 and 2011, making it the 23rd fastest growing metropolitan area in America.

The Dallas-Fort Worth MSA was the fastest-growing metro area, adding one person every four minutes and 10 seconds (345 persons per day) during the same period.

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released these population numbers.

The Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, S.C., area was the fastest growing metro in the state, adding more than 86 people during the 12-month period, making it 21st fastest growing metro in the nation.

The Durham-Chapel Hill metro ranked 61st fastest growing in the nation, adding more than 19 persons a day. Two MSAs in the Tar Heel state saw a drop in population – the Rocky Mount MSA lost 246 persons during the year, and Hickory-Lenoir-Morgantown lost 771 persons during the year.

On Numbers used those estimates to generate daily growth rates for the nation’s 366 metros.

As the slideshow on the right shows, many of the nation’s largest population centers, such as Houston, New York City, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., showed moderate to fast growth between July 2010 and July 2011.

Fifteen metropolitan areas added at least 100 persons per day between mid-2010 and mid-2011. Nearly 82 percent of all metros – 299 of 366 – registered population increases of some size.

The Cleveland area was the biggest loser, suffering a daily decline of 19.9 persons. Next were two Michigan markets: Detroit (down 13.4 persons per day) and Flint (down 8.3 persons).

Click the slideshow on the right to see the top 25 fastest growing metro areas in the U.S.

G. Scott Thomas who authors On Numbers for The Business Journals contributed to this report.